Jiang Shuo let go of his hand on Zhang Zangxie's lower back. Zhang Zangxie collapsed on the ground as if all his strength had been exhausted. Looking at the Tibetan warriors on the city, every one of them was dejected.
Two cavalry were galloping up the slope. Jiang Shuo could clearly see that the one riding in the front was Xiang'er, while the one riding behind on the black Dawan horse was Gao Xiuyan, the cavalry general of the Tang Army.
Dugu Xiang rode his horse into the city. Long Xiang's horse, the divine horse, ran straight up the steps to the city. Dugu Xiang jumped off the horse and asked with concern: "Brother Shuo, are you okay?" He and Xiang'er had only been apart for an hour, but they felt like they were worlds apart. First the golden eagle died, and then Ye Qingyao died.
Jiang Shuo was filled with emotion, let out a long sigh, and said, "Xiang'er, I'm fine. It's just that too many things have happened. I don't know where to start..." Dugu Xiang looked up at the flagpole and asked, "This iron-blade general is invulnerable." , how did you catch him?" Jiang Shuo then remembered that he had hung Iron Blade Xi Noro in the air like a flag for a long time, and quickly put him down slowly. Iron Blade Xi Noro looked completely despairing. , leaning against the city wall with his eyes closed and silent.
Jiang Shuo said: "Thanks to Zhu'er..." After saying this, he paused, turned around and looked around. Where were the shadows of Li Zhu'er and Bai Yuan?
While he was doubting, he suddenly heard the sound of the sky falling and the earth cracking, and pillars of smoke rising from the city behind him. Gao Xiuyan, who was walking into the city, couldn't help being startled. He didn't know whether to advance or retreat.
Jiang Shuo knew that Li Zhuer must not have wanted others to follow the underground river in and out of the Stone Castle City, and had completely collapsed the Octagonal Stone Chamber.
Jiang Shuo picked up the battlements and shouted to Gao Xiuyan: "Brother Gao, don't be alarmed. It was the stone chamber in the city that collapsed, and there was no ambush." Gao Xiuyan then braved the city and entered the city. As soon as he entered the city gate, he saw the chained man. Ten stone rollers, Gao Xiuyan couldn't help but click his tongue, thinking that we only thought that there were only three or five such desperate institutions. Who thought there were so many?
He saw the Tubo people coming out of various stone shelters, throwing their swords, spears and weapons into one pile, taking off their armor and throwing them into another pile.
Gao Xiuyan was surprised again: It turns out that this is the scene on Shibao City. No wonder the rockets we fired when attacking from above had no effect.
He dismounted and climbed into the city. He saw that the city wall was piled with large and small rolled logs and stones, as well as clappers filled with knife points to deal with the dead soldiers who first climbed up, and countless arrows of various types.
Gao Xiuyan thought that he was lucky. If Young Master Jiang had not captured the leader of the thieves today, no matter how many soldiers were killed or injured, he might not be able to capture Shibao City.
Thinking of this, Gao Xiuyan crossed his hands and bowed to Jiang Shuo: "Gao Xiuyan thanks Young Master Jiang on behalf of the soldiers of the Tang Army. Today, Young Master Jiang seized the flag to seize the gate, and the lives of many soldiers were saved. We are all grateful for your kindness, Young Master Jiang." Jiang Shuo hurriedly replied: "It's not my credit for defeating General Iron Blade, it's just that my friend didn't want to show up..." Gao Xiuyan
"Oh" he said, "Since he is Young Master Jiang's friend, he must be an expert in the world, so there are some who don't want to show up." Jiang Shuo could only smile bitterly and said: "General Gao, hurry up and arrange the surrender. Well, lest things change later." Gao Xiuyan had a good idea and turned around and said: "General Iron Blade, please..." He looked quite arrogant. Although Iron Blade Xi Nuoluo didn't understand Chinese, he knew what he meant. He snorted and turned his head.
Gao Xiuyan was so angry that he kicked him in the ribs and cursed: "What a thief, the defeated general is still so arrogant." Jiang Shuo quickly stopped Gao Xiuyan and said, "I was quite weak in capturing General Iron Blade." , no wonder he has resentment." Gao Xiuyan said: "Young Master Jiang, where did you come from? The military strategists say that if they can't defeat the enemy, then they will outsmart them. The confrontation between the two armies is not a fierce competition, how can there be any victory without force?" Jiang Shuo Xin knew that this could not be explained clearly in one or two sentences, and he did not want to mention the hidden alliance. He could only smile at Gao Xiuyan and said, "Please ask Zhang Xiben to take care of the surrender." Zhang Zangxie had been looking into the distance before. The movement of the Tubo cavalry. The Tubo cavalry saw the flag of Shibao City lowered in the distance, and the Tang army roared with joy. Knowing that the city had fallen, they turned around and retreated.
Zhang Zangxie breathed a sigh of relief. As for what had happened in Shibao City, he could only brace himself and ordered the disarmed Tibetan warriors who had been assembled to line up and leave the city to surrender.
Gao Xiuyan also sent a signal to Shanxia that the enemy's surrender was true. Shanxia's brother Shuhan immediately sent thousands of riders up the mountain to take over Shibao City.
Jiang Shuo grabbed Gao Xiuyan and said: "General Gao, you must treat the prisoners well, but don't..." In the fierce fighting for days, both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Tubo defenders even relied on the strength of the stone castle to kill thousands of Tang troops. , Jiang Shuo could not help but worry that they would be angry and kill him to vent their anger.
Gao Xiuyan said: "Young Master Jiang, don't worry, it's not a good idea to kill and surrender. Our army has always had strict military discipline and will not kill these surrendered soldiers." Seeing that when the Tang army escorted the Tubo surrendered troops, although their words were not good and their actions were rough, they finally did not harm these Tubo soldiers. Jiang Shuo's heart was a little relieved because of human life.
The Tang army also took Zhang Zangxie away. Jiang Shuo looked at Zhang Zangxie but didn't know what to say. Zhang Zangxie was very calm at the moment. He smiled at Jiang Shuo and followed the Tang army soldiers away.
The Tang army tied Tie Ren Xi Nuoluo to the horse and carried it down the mountain. Halfway through, Tie Ren Xi Nuoluo suddenly broke the rope. Although he had lost all his skills in the golden bell cover, he was born tall and strong, and his physical strength was still stronger than that of ordinary people. Much stronger. Previously, with Jiang Shuo by his side, he held back.
Only when he was being escorted alone did he suddenly break the rope, knock the guarding warrior off his horse, seize the horse and run away.
However, when Iron Blade Xi Nuoluo wanted to squeeze the horse's belly to urge it to run faster, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his thigh and almost fell off the horse.
Jiang Shuo watched at the top of the city and realized that Li Zhuer had not stabbed him casually out of cruelty, but had deliberately stabbed the inner thigh of Iron Blade Xi Nuoluo so that the wound would be affected whether he tried to escape on foot or on horseback.
Sure enough, Iron Blade Xi Nuoluo's legs were loosened in pain, and the horse naturally couldn't run fast. Soon the Tang Army's light cavalry surrounded him. Dozens of horse poles formed a circle, all pointing at Iron Blade Xi Nuoluo. Xi Nuoluo looked up to the sky helplessly and sighed, and asked the Tang army to tie him up again.
Zhang Shouyu led the Tang army infantry into Shibao City to take over the city defense. He also ran towards Jiang Shuo and said excitedly: "Brother Jiang, you are so awesome. More than an hour ago, I was sweating for you." In fact. When Jiang Shuo took the initiative to ask for help, Gao and Zhang both thought that he was a young man who didn't know the heights of the world. They didn't expect that he would succeed. He only thought of using his martial arts to invade the city and disrupt the layout of the Tibetan army. , and at the eleventh hour, the Tang army immediately launched an attack without considering Jiang Shuo's life or death.
When the attack was launched, the defense of Shibao City was not weakened at all, and arrows and falling rocks became more violent like a storm. They were even more convinced that Jiang Shuo had suffered an unexpected event, and all attacks by the Tang army were carried out according to the original plan.
Uncharacteristically, Zhang Shouyu made his infantry wear heavy armor and hold long shields to form a fish scale formation, and slowly pushed down the slope to attack the city gate.
This is completely different from the Tang army's usual approach of going into battle lightly and pursuing flexible and fast tactics. Because the location of Shibao City is too dangerous, there is no way to take advantage of it. The three-sided feint attack is just to distract the enemy's attention and prevent the Tibetan shooters from concentrating on the north.
The main attacking force in the north was a complete conspiracy. The Tang army wore leather armor, a cassock armor on the outside, and a zha armor on the outside. Except for being hit by falling rocks, it was difficult for any bow or crossbow to penetrate. Unexpectedly, The Tubo people actually had a powerful weapon like stone.
After two rounds of rolling stones, the Tang Army's fish-scale formation was completely disintegrated, causing hundreds of casualties in an instant. Zhang Shouyu remained calm in the face of danger and immediately made new arrangements, asking the infantry to use cavalry horses to block the stone formation. Unexpectedly, this The stone was too heavy, and after disintegrating, it still caused huge casualties to the Tang army. When Zhang Shouyu became red-eyed and wanted to order the infantry to charge, the war suddenly came to an abrupt end.
Jiang Shuo rushed to the tower and captured the Tubo coach Tie Ren Xi Nuoluo, ending this tragic offensive and defensive battle.
Gao Xiuyan left and came back, saying: "Young Master Jiang, Commander Han invites you to go to the Central Army's tent for a talk." Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang returned to Ge Shuhan's tent, only to see Tie Ren Xi Nuoluo and Zhang Zangxie were also pushed away. In the account, Zhang Zangxie, a civil servant, was also tied up several times, while Tieren Xinuoluo escaped once because he tried to escape. Now he was tied with ropes and tied like a rice dumpling.
Ge Shuhan said sternly: "Tieren Xinuoluo, you didn't expect that you would fall into my hands today." Tieren Xinuoluo snorted, finally stopped being silent, and spoke a long string of Tubo language.
Ge Shuhan asked: "What does this mean?" A scribe who looked like an interpreter in the Tang army said: "He said that the Tang army was mighty and mighty, the generals' martial arts and martial arts were unrivaled in the world, and the Tubo people completely surrendered to them this time..." Zhang Zangxie listened. He immediately shook his head and said: "That's not what General Iron Blade said... He said that the Tang Army used deceit to win without using force. Although he was defeated and captured, he was very unconvinced." The Tang Army interpreter immediately cursed : "What nonsense are the Tubo thieves talking about?" Dugu Xiang couldn't help but snickered: "Hehe... Zhang Zangxie often translated randomly, but no one said anything about him. Only this time he interpreted it truthfully, and it was said to be nonsense." Jiang Shuo Ye laughed in a low voice and said, "That's different. Zhang Xiben just didn't translate or translate the insulting and rude words before, but the meaning the speaker wanted to express has not changed." Ge Shuhan looked at Tang Juntong in turn. He glanced at Zhang Zangxie, who looked calm, but the interpreter's eyes flickered, and he realized that the interpreter had tampered with the meaning of Iron Blade Xi Nuoluo in order to flatter himself.
Ge Shuhan flew up and kicked the interpreter over, and cursed: "I am so jealous, so who wants your flattery?" He then said to Zhang Zangxie, "You come and interpret for me." Dugu Xiang commented again: "This Although General Geshu has a bad temper, he is not confused." Geshu Han said: "As for deception, when Tubo used the dowry to claim the land in the meander of the river, they built a stone castle and used it as a foundation to continuously harass the country. Tang, are you cheating?" Zhang Zangxie translated the truth to Tie Ren Xi Nuoluo. Tie Ren Xi Nuo Luo actually nodded in agreement. Zhang Zangxie translated his words: "Chide Zuzan is indeed an insatiable tyrant. ." Chizu Dezan is what the Han people call Chidai Danzhu, and is currently the lord of Tubo. He asked for peace and married Princess Jincheng, but he betrayed his faith and continued to invade the Tang Dynasty.
As soon as these words came out, Ge Shuhan glared at Zhang Zangxie and couldn't help but think that he had misinterpreted it again. Jiang Shuo stepped forward and crossed his hands and said: "Hanshuai doesn't know something. Iron Blade Xinuoluo is a Xiangxiong. His country was a hundred years ago. He has always hated being annexed by Tubo." Ge Shuhan nodded and said, "In that case, why not surrender early? Iron Blade Xinuoluo guarded Shibao City for Tubo for several years, and no less than tens of thousands of Tang soldiers died under the city. People..." Tieren Xinuoluo couldn't help laughing after listening to Zhang Zangxie's interpretation, and Zhang Zangxie translated his words again: "I just want Tubo to sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of Shibao City." The Tubo army was called Dongdai. Shibao City was small, and the defenders led by Tieren Xinuoluo were only Xiangxiong and Dongdai.
He decided for Ma Xiangzhong Bajie to defend Shibao City until the Tang army besieged the city, and the Tibetan army would outflank it from behind. The real heavy casualties were the Tibetan troops fighting in the field outside the city.
In the Battle of Shibao City, Tubo invested more than 40 Dongdai and suffered heavy casualties due to Geshuhan's tactics of encirclement and reinforcements.
If not for the urging of the Tang Emperor, Ge Shuhan would have had to launch a general attack on Shibao City. I am afraid that Tubo Dongdai would have suffered all the casualties, but Shibao City would still be standing.
As for how many Tang soldiers died, Tieren Xinuoluo didn't care. Jiang Shuo lamented in his heart: how terrible human hatred can be, how it can send millions of people into this millstone of flesh and blood.
